From Child Labour to a Chance at School

CHILD FRIENDLY SPACES

SAATH designed Child-Friendly Spaces- a unique, day care center on construction sites for children of construction site laborers.  The aim is to connect these children to formal education. With a steady influx of migrating families to urban settlements and poor quality of education, creating alternative education spaces for quality education has become important.

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROGRAMME

The main and objective of this programme is to reach children of labourers and help them gain formal education eventually and there after making them skilled and self-sufficient. Children of labourers on construction sites all require a strong base in education and access to quality education. Dropouts from school need to be continuously counselled and encouraged to go back to school. The education programs designed at Saath recognize this need and aims to bridge this gap.

Updates of last quarter.

The typical day at the center starts with morning prayers. Then the class is divided into three groups. Group one which is for the children who have no introduction to education, Group two where children learn basics like alphabets, words, numbers, shapes etc, Group three is where children learn how to form sentences, higher maths, English. Then for 2 hours each group do some studies. After that its snack time, everyday different snack is served as per the nutritional chart prepared by the experts to make sure proper nutrition is given to children. After snacks its play time, children play different indoor and outdoors games. This takes care of the physical activities in children.In last quarter along with Approach foundation, which is an Ahmedabad based organization, Saath has been conducting diverse activities for the psycho-social development of the children at CFS, who are getting exposure of the wider world, which will develop a broader perspective and awareness besides the classroom learning they are acquiring at the CFS set-ups. 

Activities conducted during the last quarter include-

1. Five mehndi making workshops were conducted during the months of August and September. Children from different centres participated in a huge number.
2. Children from          CFS classes took part in a session on how to operate camera. One such session was organized in a park and children learnt to use the techniques of clicking pictures. Even children from a regular school accompanied them with their own camera.
3. Navratri is one of the most colourful festivals of Gujarat and the Garbas are in the blood of Gujarati people. Resource persons from aProCh Foundation taught them Garba steps at Law Garden. Two such sessions were conducted, the other being at Vastrapur Lake.
4. End of October was the month of Diwali celebrations. During pre-Diwali period, diya decoration workshops were conducted twice at Parimal Garden. 25 children from three centres participated.
5. 78 children from five centres were taken to Cinepolis at AlphaOne Mall for an animated movie “Motu-Patlu” with support from aProCh Foundation. This brought an immense joy as they usually do not get a chance to visit multiplexes. Children from construction site classes and slum classes, who assist their parents in economic generation activities, participated.
6. Craft work was taught to interested children. Twenty children from two classes participated.
7. Employees from the Novotel Hotel conducted a clothes donation drive for the students of slum class in the locality on 20th October.
8. Another paper craft activity was organized in Prahladnagar Garden.
9. As part of employee engagement activities, KPMG visited one of the centres and taught the children craft items. They also celebrated Diwali with children during pre-Diwali days. It was celebrated on the 28th October.
10. Yet at Godrej Garden City centres, children engaged in creative aspect and prepared Rangoli in the class.
11. On the 30th October, children from some of the centres were taken at a venue where they can have practical shopping experience. Donated clothes were piled up and new stationery items such as colours, compass box, lunch box, etc. were displayed. They were given false currencies through which they could buy whatever they wished. A few parents also participated in the event.
12. Through donor’s support, 20 shortlisted children have been enrolled to an art activity centre named Sky Blue. The short listed children are from the slum classes for a specific reason. They will be going to art classes for a year or two. Though there are good talents in children of construction worker, their stay for long term is not ensured. They go to the centre once a week for two hours. They learn innovative arts and crafts activities that would enhance their skills to greater heights. A van has been arranged by the centre to pick from and drop them to the class.
13. Interns from Nirma University conducted various activities across the centres. They taught children science concepts through innovative methods, painted walls of the classes, made cardboard desks for children for class work, showed them animated films, did art activities, etc.
14. A new centre at Savvy Swaraaj site was started towards the end of November. About 75 children from 0 to 12 years attend the class regularly.
15. The Marriott group organized a ride for the children on the occasion of ‘Joy of Giving Week’. They took the children out for a joy ride in a big car.

A new CFS centre at North One was set up and currently there are 15 children coming to the class.

1. Further exploration for setting up new sites is taking place.
2. Teachers’ monitoring meeting was conducted at Saath Head Office on December 8th. Teachers shared and discussed their class specific challenges and learnings. This becomes a platform for them to share the grievances as well.
3. Again in December on the 17th, 15 children were taken to Cinepolis at AlphaOne mall for the movie Jungle Book. Total 59 children from across the centres participated.
4. A medical check-up was organized at Savvy Swaraaj site.
5. A drawing competition was organized at Courtyard by Marriott for children on the 27th December. The selected paintings were then converted into New Year cards by the Marriott group as official greetings for their clients.
6. Another medical check-up was organized at the two Labour Colonies of Godrej Garden City in November. As per the need of children, supplements were provided.

SUCCESS STORY

Name of the Children: Bilwal Dharmveer Sanubhai (Name Changed)

It is said, a children grows under the shed of both mother and father. But, Dharmveer was not the lucky one in the lot. Coming from the native Gujarat, Dharmveer had only single parent to care. In the initial days of the family residing at the crèche labour colony, Dharmveer’s mother had an external relationship with a Bihari men and she settled with him after making sure the children are with the father itself.

The entire story and the past was shared by Dharmveer’s father during the door-to-door visit. During the visit, we had an opportunity to meet Dharamveer’s parents and share the information about crèche running at the construction site. Within few days, he was enrolled to the crèche but in the span of week or two Dharmveer’s mother stopped visiting the school and was found missing as she ran away with some Bihari men. His father had to look after the daily routine of the entire family.

Being the single parent and earning person, it became difficult for Dharmveer’s father to look after the entire family. Slowly and gradually, Dharmveer’s father called the other family members from the native to work at the construction site so as to get better finances. Time taken was valuable and today even after being a single parent, he was able to find the ways and possibility to continue the studies of Dharmveer.

When Dharmveer was enrolled in the crèche, it took a lot of time for him to mix up with the crèche children and also was unable to understand the eating, reading and other learning. Slowly and gradually with the teachers, friends and community people he has now started to speak well, write and understand the things and materials as shared in the crèche. But the only tough things Is, if asked about his mother, he says and quotes, I don’t have mother. An answer which is tough and difficult to understand.

Dharmveer aspires to become Policemen and serve the nation through ill-effects.

• Progress Report September - November, 2019 (PDF)